Point-of-sale electronic credit card transactions are authorized and captured by several different entities that communicate with each other over a network connection. In an authorization stage, a credit card or other payment instrument is read by a point-of-sale device. Based on details regarding the payment instrument and a payment amount provided by the merchant, an authorization request for the payment amount is sent electronically from the point-of-sale device to a credit card processor. The credit card processor routes the payment request to a card network, e.g., Visa or Mastercard, which in turn routes the payment request to the card issuer, e.g., a bank. Assuming the card issuer approves the transaction, an approval is then routed back to the merchant.
In a capture stage, a capture request for the approved payment amount is again routed from the merchant to the credit card processor, card network, and card issuer. The capture stage triggers the transfer of funds between the card issuer and the merchant.